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| Monday, September 20, 2004
Theatre > The Water Station by the Theatre Training & Research Programme (TTRP) The Water Station by the Theatre Training & Research Programme (TTRP) was held at the Esplanade Theatre Studio from the 14-18 september 2004. The production featured Chris Lee in one of the roles. Reviewed by Yang Ming. scene from The Water Station Without music, silence turns out to be a delightful partner. Except, of course, the tap still drips in a false lull of expectations because the actors never speak for the entire one and a half hour. One wonders about the significance of silence through Theatre Training and Research Programme (TTRP)'s latest offering, The Water Station. Written by Ota Shogo and first performed in 1981, The Water Station received critically acclaim reviews on the avant-garde style of physical theatre, although debatable. This time round it featured the graduating TTRP students and directed by Philip Zarilli, author of the now canonical 'Acting Reconsidered' and long time practitioner of Kalaripattayu. Philip's reputation stems from his usage of the Indian art form to relevant actor training methodology, though six weeks of work might not have been clearly processed by the students. And it shows, sometimes painfully in The Water Station. Then again, who could forget the image of a child-woman emerging onto the stage with a teddy bear in her hand, drinking from the tap and looking at the horizon aftermath? And how about the two lovers who bathed each other in the station that froze into her silent scream? My most memorable scene were two servants playing with the water like village children by the pond from a forgotten world. Set against the backdrop of a garbage heap, the set that veined midway into the dripping water station and out onto a common exit felt somewhat like a lost runway. Special light effects weren't vital in this production and the piano sounds that accompanied different characters sounded just enough. Technically the actors did their movements gracefully but one wonders if they truly immersed into their roles. The directions may help yet the underlying feeling is that they have not owned the show. Perhaps watching on the first night could be detrimental - they may have done their best. The Water Station's open structure of focusing on body movements and codified gestures is not easy. Like modernist streams of consciousness, one could interpret the 'story' to any length. The actors' job to sustain a present moment in every isolation is a delight to the mind of the spectator, if what you caught turned out to be a story about lost dreams, hopes and dysfunction, the water station being a pivotal point of passage. In a matter of silence, it emphasised human emotions, pain and suffering through each character's lack of text exposition. The downside to this was that one could just as easily be distracted by the over the top awareness of each actor's pressure to deliver 'properly'. To my deeper consciousness, the whole production spoke to me of Jesus as our living water - our salvation. As each characters looked at the horizon after drinking or cleaning themselves, it could have been representational of Jesus cleansing our sins away with the water. The matter fascinated me - in slowing down our hearts, deep cries out to deep in a most unanticipated way. To sum it all up, we are often seen remembering our past, learning to march forward, seeking and thirsty for truth in a silent way.
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